Bottle opener



June 0- T. PEARSON 2,205,152

BOTTLE OPENER Filed Jan. 27, 1939 Patented June 18, 1940 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to bottle openers of the character for removingcrown caps from bottles, and has for the primary object the provision ofa device of this character which besides providing a cap removerpossessing a maximum amount of efliciency also may be employed forcarrying or otherwise handling a bottle before the removal of the captherefrom and obviates the necessity of placing the hands in directcontact with a wet, cold bottle, besides permitting the bottle to behandled in a highly sanitary manner and further will grip and retain thecap after its removal from the bottle so that the cap may be manuallyreleased with ease whenever it is convenient to deposit the cap in acollection receptacle or like device.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certainnovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts tobe hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had tothe following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 isa side elevation illustrating a bottle opener constructed in accordancewith my invention and showing the application thereof to a cap on abottle.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the device gripping thecap after the latters removal from the bottle.

Figure 3 is a top plan view illustrating the device.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 5 indicates an elongatedhandle, one end of which is rounded to present curved faces 6 lying atopposite sides of the extremely pointed portion 1 of the handle. Thehandle 5 gradually tapers toward the non-rounded end thereof.

A wear plate 1 of elongated formation is secured on one edge of thehandle 5 by being provided with tines 8 driven into the handle. The

, wear plate 7 during the use of the device as a bottle opener contactsthe cap and receives all of the strain or Wear during the fulcruming ofthe handle on the cap and which will be hereinafter more fully describedin detail.

The handle 5 is equipped with spaced pins l8 and II adjacent to thepointed end thereof and a cap gripping device I2 is journaled on one ofthe pins, or as clearly shown in the drawing, on the pin Ill while thepin ll acts as a stop for the pivotal movement of the gripping elementl2 in one direction on the handle. and l I are tied together byelongated washers I3.

The gripping element l2 comprises a pair of substantially U-shaped jawsl4 and I5 connected integrally with each other by coiled portions l6through which the pin l extends for the pivoting of the gripping elementon the handle, also the coiled portions act as tension mediums tendingto urge the jaws in the direction of each other or into position forgripping a cap [6' on a bottle H. The jaws M and I normally assume aposition with respect to each other in which said jaws are spaced fromone another. However, the distance between the jaws is less than theexternal diameter of the cap I6.

The jaw M or the connecting portion l1 thereof has a compound curvaturethereto defining projections to engage under the flange of the cap itwhen adapted thereto. Also said connecting portion has a slight arcuatecurvature from end to end thereof. The connecting portion 1 8 of the jawl-5 has an arcuate curvature so that it will readily conform to thecontour of the neck of the bottle.

In use, the handle 5 is placed above the cap of a bottle with the jawsl4 and I5 engaging said cap and by a downward pressure on the handle thejaws will be caused to spread and slide downwardly over the cap andengage under the flange of the cap at opposite sides of the neck of thebottle, as clearly shown in Figure 1, with the wear plate 1 coming torest on the top of the cap. The device thus applied to the cap andbottle provides a very efiicient handle for the lifting, carrying orotherwise handling of the bottle. When it is desired to remove the capfrom the bottle a downward pressure is placed on one end of the handlewith the latter fulcruming on 'the cap and with the latter gripped bythe jaws, said cap will be effectively and easily removed from thebottle, remaining gripped between the jaws, as shown in Figure 2, sothat through a slight manual effort the jaws may be separated to freethe cap for gravitation into a collecting receptacle or similar device,obviating the cap from falling immediately on its removal from thebottle.

Thus it will be seen that a very efficient bottle opener has beenprovided wherein a cap can be easily and conveniently removed withoutdamage to the bottle or danger of injuring the person using the deviceand further it will be seen that prior to the removal of the cap and onthe application of the opener to the cap, said opener The pins Ill maybe employed for carrying the bottle from one place to another and forwrapping the bottle without placing the hands in direct contacttherewith.

Further, it will be seen that a device of this kind may be manufacturedand sold at a low cost and also it is to be understood that while thegripping element I2 has been described and shown as being adapted to aspecially constructed handle, it is to be understood that through a veryslight rearrangement of the gripping element its application may beeasily made to a conventional type of cap remover commonly employed onthe market and having a handle with a ring-like head provided withspaced projections to engage under the flange of the cap while thering-like head engages on the top of the cap.

It is believed that the simplicity and advantages of this invention willbe perfectly apparent to those skilled in the art to which such a devicerelates and while I have herein set forth a satisfactory embodiment ofthe invention, it is to be understood that such changes therefrom asfairly within the scope of my claims may be resorted to when desired.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, an elongated handle to engagewith a cap of a bottle, a wear plate secured on the handle to contactthe cap, a gripping element pivotally mounted on the handle adjacent oneend thereof and including spaced resilient jaws to receive therebetweenand grip a cap on the application of the wear plate onto the top face ofthe cap to permit carrying of the bottle by the handle and to coact withthe handle in removing the cap from the bottle and retaining the cap onthe handle until manually released from the gripping element.

2. In a device of the character set forth, an

- elongated handle to engage the cap of a bottle,

a pivot pin carried by the handle adjacent one end thereof, a grippingelement journaled on said pivot pin and including a pair of integrallyconnected substantially U-shaped jaws provided with coiled tensionedportions receiving the pivot pin and acting to urge the jaws in thedirection of each other for a limited distance to permit said jaws tospread and pass over a cap of a bottle and grip the cap under the loweredge thereof at opposite sides of the bottle.

3. In a device of the character set forth, an elongated handle to engagethe cap of a bottle, a pivot pincarried by the handle adjacent one endthereof, a gripping element journaled on said pivot pin and including apair of integrally connected substantially U-shaped jaws provided withcoiled tensioned portions receiving the pivot pin and acting to urge thejaws in the direction of each other for a limited distance to permitsaid jaws to spread and pass over a cap of a bottle and grip the capunder the lower edge thereof at opposite sides of the bottle, one ofsaid jaws including a connecting portion having a compound curvature toprovide projections to engage under the cap and the other jaw includinga connecting portion arcuately curved to conform to the contour of abottle.

4. In a device of the character set forth, an

elongated handle to engage the cap of a bottle, a pivot pin carried bythe handle adjacent one end thereof, a gripping element journaled onsaid pivot pin and including a pair of integrally connectedsubstantially U-shaped jaws provided with coiled tensioned portionsreceiving the pivot pin and acting to rage the jaws in the direction ofeach other for a limited distance to permit said jaws to spread and passover a cap of a bottle and grip the cap under the lower edge thereof atopposite sides of the bottle, one of said jaws including a connectingportion having a compound curvature to provide projections to engageunder the cap and the other jaw including a connecting portion arcuatelycurved to conform to the contour of a bottle, and a stop pin carried bythe handle adjacent the pivot pin for limiting the pivotal movement ofthe gripping element in one direction on the handle.

5. In a device of the character set forth, an elongated handle to engagethe cap of a bottle, a pivot pin carried by the handle adjacent one endthereof, a gripping element journaled on said pivot pin and including apair of integrally connected substantially U-shaped jaws provided withcoiled tensioned portions receiving the pivot pin and acting to urge thejaws in the direction of each other for a limited distance to permitsaid jaws to spread and pass over a cap of a bottle'and grip the capunder the lower edge thereof at opposite sides of the bottle, one ofsaid jaws including a connecting portion having a compound curvature toprovide projections to engage under the cap and the other jaw includinga connecting portion arcuately curved to conform to the contour of abottle, a stop pin carried by the handle adjacent the pivot pin forlimiting the pivotal movement of the gripping element in one directionon the handle, and tie plates connecting the stop pin with the pivotpin.

6. In a device of the character set forth, an elongated handle to engagethe cap of a bottle, a pivot pin carried by the handle adjacent one endthereof, a gripping element journaled on said pivot pin and including apair of integrally connected substantially U-shaped jaws provided withcoiled tensioned portions receiving the pivot pin and acting to urge thejaws in the direction of each other for a limited distance to permitsaid jaws to spread and pass over a cap of a bottle and grip the capunder the lower edge thereof at opposite sides of the bottle, one ofsaid jaws including a connecting portion having a compound curvature toprovide projections to engage under the cap and the other jaw includinga connecting portion arcuately curved to conform to the contour of abottle, a stop pin carried by the handle adjacent the pivot pin forlimiting the pivotal movement of the gripping element in one directionon the handle, and tie plates connecting the stop pin with the pivotpin, said end of the handle located adjacent to the pivot pin beingrounded to form a pointed portion with curved faces arranged at oppositesides thereof.

WILLIE T. PEARSON.

